iWalk.2020.04.02 Strolling

Ah, memories of Flanagan & Allen. Before car ownership was almost universal in the first world, people strolled for pleasure. I remember summer evenings when I was a child with couples strolling around our neighborhood, mostly to take the air and admire the neighborhood gardens: "Mr Thompson's hollyhocks are especially fine this year." During the present pandemic there has been a noticeable increase in foot traffic through our neighborhood. Whether this cultural change in behavior persists after the crisis ends remains to be seen.

Other cultures have strolling down to a fine art: the French have the flâneur; the Italians revel in the joys of the passeggiata; the Spanish (having had a siesta in the heat of the day) emerge when the heat has dissipated to go on a paseo; the Russians are steeped in the tradition of the gulyat. I enquired from several people who might be old enough to remember an American strolling tradition, but if there was one then I think it probably waned as sales of the Model T Ford burgeoned and most Americans aspired to ride in one.

In the Ralph Reader song that they made their own, Flanagan and Allen sang that they did not envy the rich in their automobiles: if strolling does gain momentum then perhaps the obesity epidemic will be somewhat ameliorated by an unexpected side effect from the coronavirus pandemic. The law of unexpected consequences will determine many outcomes.

Diet is the biggest factor in obesity and the illnesses associated with it. SAD (the standard American diet) or WPD (Western pattern diet) is at the root of this problem, but I have no evidence either way on how the '3T Challenge' (get takeout from local restaurants three times a week) mentioned by Utah Governor Garry Herbert will impact the health of the state's population. Perhaps only three SAD meals a week is a big move in the right direction.